On October 4 and 5, the fifth edition of the Mercociudades Resilience School was held with the support from the project Adaptation in Action - Santa Lucía Basin, which is led by the National Water Directorate (Dinagua) of the Ministry of Environment. South American municipal governments held dialogues for training on urban resilience with a thematic focus on integrated water management.
On October 4 and 5, 2022, 25 representatives of local governments from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Bolivia, carried out their training in the fifth edition of the School of Resilience, promoted by the South-South Cooperation Program of Mercociudades with the support of the project Adaptation in Action - Santa Lucía Basin, which is led by the National Water Directorate (Dinagua) of the Ministry of Environment.
This edition was developed under the slogan "Integrated water management", and took place in two cities of the department of Canelones, the first day in the homonymous city of Canelones and the second day in the city of Santa Lucía.
At the opening event, the National Director of Waters, Viviana Pesce, exchanged with the mayor of the city of Canelones, Darío Pimienta, the director of the Division of International Relations and Cooperation of Montevideo and Vice President of Institutional Relations of Mercociudades, Fabiana Goyeneche, the representative of Resilient Cities Network, Luis Bonilla, the secretary general of the Municipality of Canelones, Francisco Legnani, and the executive secretary of Mercociudades, Lautaro Lorenzo.
In addition, within the framework of the School of Resilience, the cities of Santa Fe and Canelones signed a technical cooperation agreement in areas related to Flood Risk Management in the context of the climate crisis, an agreement that establishes an area of south-south cooperation that strengthens bilateral relations, encourages the exchange of knowledge, capacity-building and technical assistance on matters of mutual interest to cities.
During the second day, a dialogue table on cooperation for resilience was held in which Blanca Rodríguez Torrego, head of programs for Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), spoke about sources of financing available to the countries of the region; Mariela Couto and Belén Stocky, members of the Permanent Technical Secretariat of Mercociudades, spoke about the South-South Cooperation Program of Mercociudades and the Enlace Sur platform; and Isadora Buchala, regional Resilience assistant at ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, who spoke about the resources and tools provided by her organization.
The School of Resilience responds to the interest of promoting these spaces that allow facing the main challenges of cities, such as the integral management of water resources and the construction of urban resilience. Representatives of governments presented cases of local problems related to water and then three of them will be selected that during the year 2023 will receive support through technical assistance, exchange of experiences or other mechanisms that put resilience strategies into practice.
"Adaptation in Action - Santa Lucía Basin" funded by Euroclima+ and implemented by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the French Development Agency (AFD), aims to strengthen the resilience of Montevideo and its metropolitan area, as well as that of the urban localities of the Santa Lucía River basin in the face of the impacts of variability and climate change, focusing efforts on an integrated management of water resources to guarantee in quantity and quality their source of drinking water.
The training has the collaboration and technical support of the Resilient Cities Network, as well as the support of various organizations specialized as collaborators: ICLEI, UNDRR, CAF, ECLAC and UN Habitat.
About EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, in particular for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Program is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and UN Environment.
Contact Information
Fernando Andrade, EUROCLIMA+ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ronald Arce, INCAE Business School This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
